The U.S. Army's base in Alaska allegedly has a "Racial Thursday" practice, where soldiers are permitted to use slurs against each other.
The unit that takes part in the weekly "Racial Thursday" event belongs to the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
The weekly event apparently encourages soldiers to use racial slurs, and the practice is now being investigated by the U.S. Army. The soldiers who participate belong to the 2nd Platoon, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment.
The revelation comes via soldiers themselves who shared details of the practice to the Army Times.
So what exactly is this practice?
"When I first got to my unit, someone said we should do 'Racial Thursdays' because it's been a tradition," revealed an African American soldier who is a staff sergeant. "It's something they made up where you can say any racist remark you want without any consequences. The platoon sergeant said no, but the (expletive) is still going on."
Since the soldier desisted from participating and said he would not tolerate the same, he did not experience any racial slurs himself. He feels that the practice is "degrading" and instances where soldiers end up fighting among themselves because of the unpleasantness are not uncommon.
Currently, nearly one in five soldiers in the U.S. Army are of African American origin compared to just 27 percent two decades ago.
Marine Corps accounts for 11 percent African Americans who are enlisted in its troops. Five out of 81 officers are black. In the military, 16.6 percent of the force is composed of African Americans, which is a slide from the 17.8 percent in 2005.
In the Marine Corps, the proportion of African American-enlisted troops was 20 percent in 1985. Today, 30 years later, it stands at 11 percent. Of the 20,837 officers in the Marine Corps, 1,117 are African American, according to Marine Corps figures provided to the Monitor. Of 81 general officers, five are black.
Per Ly. Col. Alan Brown, who is a spokesperson for the command, the U.S. Army Alaska has already started a commander's inquiry into the matter last week.
"An informal complaint was made through command channels, and the commander has already assigned an investigating officer and the investigation is ongoing," revealed Brown. "The command is extremely sensitive to any allegations that involve equal opportunity or discrimination and will investigate every allegation."
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Photo: The U.S. Army | Flickr
